


Dear then Sincerely

by tafih



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - World War II, F/M, Letters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 07:04:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9709706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tafih/pseuds/tafih
Summary: In the wake of WWII, Allura decides to become a pen-pal for a deployed soldier in the 442nd Nisei Regiment. She ends up exchanging missives with a young man named Takashi Shirogane and things grow from being dear to being more than sincere.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wordswithdragons](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordswithdragons/gifts).



> Inspired by a headcanon I came across on Tumblr then after a bit of research, I found a lot of parallels between Shiro and Daniel Inouye and decided to go for it! Happy Valentines Day!

December 2, 1944

Dear Paladin,

My name is Allura. I hope this letter finds you well. My father was once a soldier like yourself so I thought it best to send my regards. I specifically requested that this letter be sent to the 442nd Regiment due to my incredible regard for your actions to serve a nation ~~that rejected you due to your race~~. I realize that these letters are meant to encourage you but I find myself burdened by the fact that I really would not be able to find the right words to write since I do not know the exact nature of your role or work but I know that you risk your life for it. I thank you for your service and I pray that God keeps you safe and warm during these winter months.

 

Blessings,

Allura.

* * *

December 11, 1944

Dear Allura,

Thank you for your letter. “Paladin” was an interesting choice – definitely struck me. In fact, it made me smile. So do not worry about finding the right words – the ones you sent were just perfect. I am actually quite surprised you heard about our regiment – considering many things and that our first battle as a unit was just this past June.

But the fact that you have and that you respect our decisions to serve our nation made me smile. So, that’s twice you made this _paladin_ smile in just one letter. I hope that you continue to write.

 

Sincerely,

Second Lieutenant Takashi Shirogane.

* * *

December 20, 1944

Dear Second Lieutenant Shirogane,

Merry Christmas! Well, with any luck, this letter arrives to your hands by Christmastime. I send some chocolate and I hope that a little sweetness will brighten your days on the frost-covered fields.

Needless to say, I felt more encouraged by your letter than I think you were by mine – which hopefully, changes as time progresses. I truly wish I could do and send more – but chocolate and a few pages are all anyone can seem to manage nowadays. I hope they suffice.

But because it is Christmas, and because I feel horribly inadequate, I wanted to enclose a poem. Furthermore, since I still doubt my competence for diction, I’ll resort to the time-tested words of the Romantics.

A presence that disturbs me with the joy 

Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime 

Of something far more deeply interfused, 

Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns, 

And the round ocean and the living air, 

And the blue sky, and in the mind of man: 

A motion and a spirit, that impels 

All thinking things, all objects of all thought, 

And rolls through all things. Therefore am I still 

A lover of the meadows and the woods 

And mountains; and of all that we behold 

From this green earth; of all the mighty world 

Of eye, and ear,—both what they half create, 

And what perceive; well pleased to recognise 

In nature and the language of the sense 

The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse, 

The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul 

Of all my moral being. 

This selection is from “Lines Composed a Few Miles from Tintern Abbey” by Wordsworth. I always find that being among nature, in the solitude of my thoughts, is actually quite dangerous. I tend to get carried away in my musings. But maybe these words will be decent Christmas gift for you (apart from the chocolate). 

Please stay warm.

 

Sincerely,

Allura

* * *

December 29, 1944

Dear Allura,

Please call me “Shiro” – since everyone in my unit calls me that. My younger cousin, Keith, had a difficult time pronouncing “Takashi” so he resorted to “Shiro” and it just stuck. I’d like for you to call me that too – using my title sounds a bit too stuffy, honestly.

Thank you for the chocolate! I shared some with my friend, Matthew, and it definitely brightened our day.

And your Christmas gift was spectacular. So please have more faith in your ability to make me smile.

I actually studied at Oxford for a semester and was able to visit Tintern. It is really a majestic place – the ruins of a old cathedral with the blue sky for its stained glass. Seeing those words attached made me think of those times and it made me quite warm. Thank you.

 

Sincerely,

Shiro

* * *

December 31, 1944

Dear Allura,

Have a Happy New Year. I forgot to add that to my last letter. I’m hoping that V-mail will get this to you in time.

 

Sincerely,

Shiro

* * *

January 1, 1945

Dear Shiro,

Happy New Year! Are you _actually_ warm and comfortable? You being cold always worries me, for some reason.

Believe it or not, I also visited Tintern Abbey. I had travelled to Monmouth and the Lake District for holiday three years ago and I too was struck by how the sky (which had been grey the day I went) had replaced the windows of the Abbey. I was leafing through some of my uncle’s books of Romantic Poetry when I came across Wordsworth’s poem and I felt that I had to include it in my letter to you. Could you believe that I very much _squealed_ when I read that part of your last reply? Goodness, I blush even as I write about it. I woke the whole house – I was incredibly embarrassed. But perhaps it is destiny that my first letter went to you.

 

Sincerely,

Allura

* * *

_In a small cottage, in the middle of the French Riveria, Shiro blushed as he read the last sentence. He shuffled a bit by the flickering lamp, providing the bit of light and heat he had grown accustomed to. His cheeks burned and he wondered if he would actually need his blanket that night since something warm had erupted inside of him._


End file.
